A Quiet Spot
by The Compendium of Steve
Summary: Just a normal evening... until she walked by.


**Quiet Spot**

By Steven Woodcum

It had gotten pretty late; I could tell from how much darker things looked than I last recalled. The sun was pretty low off in the distant horizon, hovering steadily over the vast watery expanse that took up most of my sight whenever I took a glance. The endless ocean glimmered almost too brilliantly, as if screaming the intensity of the light that shone from its farthest edges. But all was silent, save for the lazy waves that broke in steady rhythm nearby. The dull crashes of minute waves seemed to heighten the serenity of my chosen spot.

Just another shoreline it might have seemed, that of one of hundreds of islands that dotted the planet, which in turn where the only landmasses on an otherwise aquatic world. An average sized lump of sand and dirt, with the atypically impressive amount of exotic greenery atop it. Not far from where I sat the tree line of the forest rose like a wall of bark and leaves across from me, and somewhere near the center of that jungle the day's celebration was still going on.

Now, the thing that made this island special from every other island on that planet was that it had been artificially created; fairly recently at that. It was the latest of several recreational projects that I had funded and overseen, and in celebration of its completion a get-together was organized. Considering the droves of people that came, I would say it went pretty successfully. Even hours after the grills were lit to signal its beginning the party was still going strong. From the coastline I could still hear the faint thuds of booming music, but I had gone there to make my own music.

Although I was the supposed emcee/man of honor for this get-together, I figured I socialized enough and had set out for some alone time. And finding myself sitting down on orange-tinted white sand, my back to a large flat-sided rock, with only the ocean air to keep me company, I knew I had found the perfect place to strum.

My guitar was a custom-made acoustic but nothing too special. It was the one instrument I was really good at, and it's one of the things that get me recognized instantly since I often carry it around. Though, in those days, I just picked at the strings and sometimes played the simpler songs that I really enjoy, just to relax. With things as peaceful as they were, I've mainly been playing for myself. But I didn't mind; I've always been the kind of loner sort. I enjoy solitude more often than not, but talking and being with others is nice, especially with friends. At the time, though, I was content just playing for an audience of one: Me.

I can't say how long I just sat there plucking at strings, playing out the occasional ditty; might have been a couple of minutes. But at some point I heard a gentle rustling from the jungle across from me. It was a deliberate progression of noise, and thanks to the near complete silence around me I could tell that it was heading for the borderline. Apparently I wasn't the only one who needed a break from the crowd.

For the moment I just resumed looking over my guitar, ignoring the noise. However, curiosity got the better of me when I caught sight of the approaching someone from the upper part of my vision. Looking up I saw that the person had exited the jungle completely, and that it wasn't any ordinary person. Six foot tall, streamlined with curves in multiple places, with reverse-bent knees and a tail and razor sharp claws, with scales all over, the newcomer I beheld was a very fit Velociraptor-esque Ssi-Ruu. And from the softness of its face and the eyes, I figured that it was a girl. When I surmised that bit of knowledge I realized that she had started walking toward my general direction.

I looked back down at my guitar, still held within my grubby digits as she approached, not because I was nervous but it was just a general habit of mine whenever there were people around. From the sound of approaching foot-falls there was certainly no doubt that the Ssi-Ruu hadn't overlooked me. She stopped just two feet from where I sat and spoke.

"Why hello there," she said in a surprisingly soft, clear voice, in perfect English. Now you're probably thinking, 'Exactly how is a dinosaur talking in English, perfect English no less?' Well, thanks to years of effort and patience in forming and deepening a firm political and social relationship with the Ssi-Ruuk species, we had overcome that little barrier in a relatively short time. As I was saying, the wayward female raptor addressed me and I talked back.

"Oh, hi there," was my rather blunt reply. "Fancy that there'd be anyone else out here."

"I can say the same," she said with a hint of amusement. "Yeah, I'm just taking a walk; get some air, taking a break from the bustle of the party."

"Oh yeah, same for me," I said rather dumbly. "So, you're one of the guests then?"

"Yes I am. And you must be the one who arranged all this."  
"Uhh, yeah, that's right. How'd you know?"

"I thought it was you because of how short you were."

"Ah, right, heheh." Once again, my recognizable shortness left my frail pride cringing… But regaining my inner composure, I took up the chat once more.

"So, you decided to walk out along here to take a breather, eh?"

"Correct. That shouldn't be a problem; this is a public beach after all."

"Well technically it's my beach… and island," I said shrugging and rubbing my head with a free hand (Yet one other random habit of mine).

"Uh-huh. Mind if I crouch by you?" she asked rather politely.

"Uhhh, sure, go ahead." With that the dark-green Ssi-Ruu female positioned herself close to me and the rock I was sitting against and bent her legs, lowering into a crouch. Of course, because of her odd legs and tail it would be pretty hard and awkward to sit like any human or tail-less creature, so the best a creature like her could do as a substitute was crouch. Come to think of it, birds do the exact same thing when they rest… But back on topic. Once as comfortable as she could get, she nudged slightly toward the rock I was against.

"This boulder is still giving off some heat. I hope I'm not bothering you getting this close."

"Oh, no, not at all. It's good." Now normally, what with me being a mammal, and considerably smaller, someone in my position would be pretty nervous having a large ferocious looking lizard sitting next to them. But that kind of circumstance didn't bother me in the least; rather, I was still pretty comfortable where I was. If anything, my only discomfort was that I was next to someone at all. An anti-social bit of anxiety you might say, but I stayed put nevertheless.

With the lady Ssi-Ruu up close and next to me I thought over the brief discussion that we had shared. From the tone of her voice she sounded like an adult, but a fairly young one. I didn't know her age, but from how she talked I thought she could've been slightly older than me. Well, in human years. She definitely had a gentle aspect to the way she talked; completely opposite of what the looks given to her race might've implied. After a bit of awkward silence I spoke up.

"So… how did you come about attending the party here? Just, curious, is all." She answered that question as though it wasn't awkward in the least.

"Oh, my brother insisted that I come down here and see the planet at least, maybe meet some new people. He works for you."

"Does he?"

"No doubt you know him. His name is Steezy."

"Steezy!?"

Steezy: The name of my closest partner in my resort enterprise. The partnership forged between me and him was one that greatly helped in bringing his species into friendly terms with the galaxy at large, as well as forming one of my tightest friendships outside of my usual circle. Now, due to the immense gap between languages it was much easier to designate an English name to every Ssi-Ruuk rather than translate it all, hence is why he was referred to as Steezy. As the name would suggest he was a laid-back and calm sort, like a surfer kind of. Yet he was reliable and often took over the business proceedings whenever I was away, and definitely stays calm under pressure. His easy-going attitude was what got me to like him right off the bat, but to think: He having a sister? Suddenly this chance encounter had become very interesting.

"Really?" was my follow-up response to that surprising bit of information. "Hunh, I didn't know he had a sister."

"Not surprising that nobody around here would know. He's a little over-protective of me; sometimes taking it a bit too far."

"Is that so?" I gave a slight chuckle. Imagine that: Cool-headed Steezy being an overly protective brother. I would have found that funnier if I wasn't already finding it hard to believe. And then she said,

"My name is Sylvia by the way. Nice to meet you."

Sylvia…

"Eh, Squishy. Nice to meet you too," I said to her.

"So your name really is Squishy?"

"Yeah, it is. Weird, right?" Squishy: The result of a youth spent playing video games and slacking off, earning me a namesake befitting a person of absolute laziness in the eyes of my people. Even now I still procrastinate, though not as much as I used too. Anyways, she spoke again.

"It's a little strange, but from what my brother has been telling me you are a rather unique character."

"Heh, he wouldn't be wrong there." The things that I had done in the past have elevated me to the level of an icon, but it came with the territory of my other, and more renowned, occupation sadly. She gave a light laugh at my agreement to her brother's claim. A Velociraptor laughing gently… strange, yes?

"Don't take it too hard. He also said you were a pretty nice guy, and I can see that he was right."  
"Why, thank you. You're rather nice yourself."

"I'm just being polite. Being among so many different types of people, being kind and courteous is the best strategy."

"That it certainly is. Or give them free stuff; that usually works." My weak attempt at being funny got a kindly chuckle out of her. Some more silence followed, with me looking back down at my guitar caressing my hand over the strings. Luckily this period of quiet was shorter than the last, as Sylvia spoke up again.

"That's a nice-looking guitar you have there. Were you practicing earlier?"

"Yeah a little. Nothing in-depth; just something to keep my fingers preoccupied."

"Have you been composing any songs?"

"No. I don't compose. I just like playing other people's songs. Songs that I like."

"Ah. So you're only half a musician."

"Guess you could say that." Again, my pride… "Want to hear my favorite tune?"

"Sure. Some music would be nice."

"Okay." I began plucking at strings with a pattern in mind. "Just let me warm up."

"Alright." My short fingers twanged and picked strings at a moderate pace, in order to loosen them. All was quiet again save for the light breeze, the waves and my guitar fiddling.

"So Steezy brought you here to meet new people. What do you think of this place so far?" I asked to stir up conversation until I was ready to perform.

"Its beautiful here; so different from our home world. There's water everywhere, and only islands instead of continents. And the calmness of everything… I can see why Steezy likes it so much here."

"Yeah. It's one of my favorite places too, for that precise reason. How about the people at the party? Meet anyone interesting?"

"I didn't really meet anyone. Just had idle talk with a few people. Everyone was having their own fun and talking with other people they knew, and there were so many kinds of people there. It was almost uncomfortable being around so many."

"Crowds tend to do that, especially when you're the one thing that sticks out the most." She gave a slight laugh at that.

"It's just nice to be with only one or two people. I lost track of my brother not long ago, and without him there really wasn't anybody around I could talk with. But, seems I was lucky enough to stumble upon you. It's been really nice talking with you, and getting to know my brother's business partner as well."

"Well there really isn't all that much to know about me. I'm just a guy… only littler." This time she gave a livelier laugh.

"You're also funny," she said, giving as best a smile as her reptilian face could manage.

"I try." A moment later I was ready. "Alright, I believe I'm set."

"Goody!" That sounded particularly bubbly, reminding me of another girl I knew. Guess she had gotten pretty comfortable.

"This is one of my more favorite songs. It's pretty simple so I shouldn't mess up too badly." That song was more than just a favorite. It was the song that started my interest in guitars; the sole reason why I decided to even pick up an instrument. That and it was appropriate for the current surroundings.

I shifted my back straight and relaxed it some more against the rock, sitting up to be in a more comfortable playing position, as well as flexing my wrists and fingers. In seconds I was set to play in comfort. Some more seconds went by as I put my fingers in position to make the opening notes, and once those were in place I took a quick glance at Sylvia. Her head was turned in my direction, intent on hearing what I had to offer. Assured that I now had a listener, I started to play.

The song's progression was hard-wired into my memory; I had played it so many times that my fingers had become automatic in producing the notes. Though there were some initial cramps they went away quickly as I got into the rhythm of the melody. I played it slowly; slower than it was originally meant to be played. This gave it a very calming, soothing feel to it. In all honesty, it had the nuances of a campfire serenade.

"Huh. That's pretty good," Sylvia said a ways into the song, giving a relaxed yawn shortly thereafter.

"I've played this a couple of times. It really helps in relaxing me."

"Uh-huh. It surely does." She meant those words, I could tell. As I kept playing, I pulled back my head to look up at the sky, and that's when I noticed that above the few scattered clouds the sky had become mostly black, with a fringe of orange on the part closest to where the sun was. The first of the evening stars poked out from the murkiness of the twilit sky, adding a bit of surrealism as I continued to play. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as I found myself lost in the song. The breaking waves, which now sounded so distant in comparison to the music, seemed to accentuate the overall vibe being created. This feeling was common to me. Music had always been a comfort in my life, as well as a lifestyle. To play it out with my own hands further engrossed me in the thing which had granted me joy and excitement for years. The very basis for much of my past successes… and I was at its center once more.

With a final strum I finished up the song, and once again the area was silent. Nothing but breeze, leaf rustling, and surf stirred amid that peace. I turned to Sylvia and saw that her head was nuzzled more onto the rock and closer to me, and that her eyes were closed, her nostrils breathing softly and slowly. Music had soothed the not-at-all-savage beast. I smiled at that thought. Then looking around me I took in the scenery once more. It was just the two of us, against a cool rock, on a lonely stretch of sandy beach, surrounded by ocean and jungle, with only a sinking sun watching over us. I gazed at Sylvia again, and upon doing so I realized how incredibly relaxed I myself was feeling after playing that song. Taking Sylvia's cue, I nestled myself back against the rock and let my eyelids take me into quiet darkness.

And like that there we were: A Jawa and a Ssi-Ruu, on an island on Mon Calamari, napping like two chums against an infinite sunset.

The thing that made that island even more special… was that the beginning of my greatest happiness took place there.

**The End**

(For Now XP)


End file.
